The Rebirth Of Evil
by Fallen215
Summary: Three years after the Worldstone's destruction, Lachlan Silverwind along with his sister, Marianna Silverwind, will have to journey across Sanctuary in search of an ancient evil that threatens to destroy their very existence! Chapter 5 up! R
1. Prologue

Diablo

The Rebirth Of Evil

Prologue

It had been three years...

Three years since the Worldstone has been destroyed and Evil was defeated in an epic battle that will be remembered throughout the ages. Yet another Evil was rising, one that would destroy the very people that it once saved. The very essence of what is just and right, tainted and warped to do his evil master's every bidding. Can anyone stop The Rebirth Of Evil? There was one...

Lachlan Silverwind ,a.k.a. Locke, was the younger brother of Marianna Silverwind, a famous rogue who aided in the vicious slaying of Baal, the Lord of Destruction. After the slaying of Baal, Marianna returned to the Monastery of the Sisters of the Sightless Eye with her younger brother to begin training him, for she knew that evil was not yet completely banished from the Mortal Plane.

Then one day, an evil presence was felt throughout Sanctuary, and the Chaos War began. It was the war that would decide the fate of the Mortal Plane, and would decide who would control the remaining inhabitants of the known world.

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Note: This is the first and last disclaimer I am putting in my story. All of the Diablo stuff belongs to Blizzard Entertainment Inc.


	2. The Beginning

The Rebirth Of Evil

Chapter 1

The Beginning

_It was the dream again... the flash of light nearly blinded him. He squinted at the light with his left hand covering his eyes, and then suddenly he was in a ruined city. The buildings and shops destroyed and worn away by a blistering wind full of black sand that was slowly deteriorating everything it came into contact with. Looking around him, there were corpses half-covered with sand, stripped down to the bone, some covered in armor, with eroding bones stretching to the sky in brave defiance of the wind that had destroyed this once vast and grand city. The sky was a dark crimson with black clouds mixed in, giving the impression that even the heavens were tainted by the evil that had warped this beautiful place. Then suddenly, a dark flash caught his attention. As he slowly turned he could hear a voice that was right behind him, whispering dark omens of destruction that had befallen mankind, and woman screaming as they perished in horror and torment. He spun, but the sounds came from nowhere, but was always right behind him no matter how he turned. He continued to turn, increasingly faster as he tried to locate the source of the voice, when suddenly an unearthly, blood-chilling wail cut through the air like a thousand knives. He screamed in agony and fell to his knees, throwing his hands up to cover his ears as the horrible wail sapped him of all his strength, but they began to bleed anyways. The wail stopped and he tried to clear his mind, trying to discern whether he had gone deaf of not. But when he looked up and saw a dark apparition flying toward him at incredible speed, he had to move. But the residual effects of that horrible ear-piercing shriek kept him powerless to stop this thing or to evade his seemingly inevitable doom. All of a sudden the dark apparition was only inches away from his face with its huge sword drawn ready to cleave him in two..._

Suddenly he sat up in his bed with a cold sweat drenching him, panting and wild-eyed from his nightmare... _Damn_, he thought, _no sleep for the weary_. It was only three years after the Worldstone had been destroyed and his sister had finally returned, but the dream kept returning every night, like a silent thief poisoning his mind. Lachlan Silverwind sighed as he slowly crawled out of bed, put on his shirt, belted on his Moonblade (A blade forged from the Temple of Zakarum, before Mephisto had invaded and twisted the city) and looked in a mirror, stopping abruptly when he passed it. His sapphire blue eyes stared back at him, while his medium-short length brown hair was still a mess from sleep. His slightly rounded jaw and average build bespoke of years of little to no physical exertion; a life of luxury, so to speak. Even though he still dreamed of becoming a great hero, he had neither the poise, nor the look, nor the build of any hero he had seen engraved as statues. He sighed as he stopped sucking in his gut and quit pretending for today. He exited his room and went for an early morning walk through the hallways of the Monastery of the Sisters of the Sightless Eye.

He went outside and took a deep breath of crisp, fresh air and shook his head to try and clear his mind of fast-fading images. Images of nightmares that had so abruptly awoken him once again. _What is that dream?_ Locke contemplated, _what is that place, that thing?_ He looked around at the still sleeping camp of rogues and decided it was unimportant at the moment. _Still got a couple of hours till daylight_, Locke thought sadly, _Might as well get started then_. Locke went back inside, passing a few other just awakening novices as he went, to grab his equipment and take it into the rogue's training room. He set down his training gear, which consisted of two steel bracers, along with two steel anklets, and a studded leather tunic.

The room only had one other occupant in it, his sister Marianna Silverwind, who was his only living family, dressed in similar training garb as his. He studied her as he donned his training gear. Her long black hair flying as she rolled and quickly slashed sideways with her battle-worn longsword cleaving through a test dummy with ease, a grim smirk on her face as she noticed her little brother gaping at her. Her green eyes flashed as she gracefully reversed her stance and swung her longsword, cutting through the air with a high-pitched whistle, decapitating a training dummy and severing another dummy's torso from its' stand. The screech from her blade reminded him of his nightmare, which made him stop and shudder from a cold chill that ran up his spine.

The cold air nipped at his flesh, and his bare feet on the cold floor made him begin his daily routine before he froze. He began his routine with his normal warm-up and gradually progressed from that to the actual routine. About halfway through his routine though, he was abruptly stopped as a longsword flew just inches from his head, close enough in fact to cut a small bit of hair off his head. He gazed in anger and amazement at his sister, who just chuckled at him.

"You still need a haircut, little one," she smiled.

"My hair looks just fine thank you, and please don't try to kill me again... we don't want a repeat of that time you tried to use me for archery practice."

Marianna laughed so hard as the memory flooded back that she doubled over, one hand to stop her from crashing to the floor, the other over her stomach, laughing hysterically. Locke grimaced as he remembered that day, and put his hand over his right shoulder where he still carried a scar. Marianna recovered enough to give her little brother a big smile, wrench her longsword from the wall where it had pinned a dummy's head, and resume with her routine. He continued through his morning training routine, moving quickly, yet fluidly from one battle stance to the next, practicing lunges and parries against imaginary foes. It was the same routine that his sister had ground into his skull day after day as children after their parents died, yet strangely they still didn't know how they had perished. Only after the sun was just creeping into the sky did Locke finally retire to his room to put his gear away, and to bathe before he had to leave for Lut Gholien.

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An hour later Locke was on the road traveling with a large caravan East hired as a caravan guard by Warriv, an old friend whom Locke had known for years growing up. Locke had never been able to go with him, although he constantly made trips through the Barrier Mountains east to Lut Gholien and back west to The Monastery, on account of being too young to do any good. This time his sister had convinced Warriv to let him go, and he was happy really, but didn't want to seem like a giddy little kid. He was passing the time by chatting with a couple of caravan guards that he had grown to know in the years before at the Monastery, many of whom he had befriended. Some of them were coming along for the first time also, but not many, most were going for their third or fifth trip with Warriv. Yet Locke didn't care much, as he idly watched the unchanging and utterly boring terrain which consisted of little more than huge piles of rock, sand, and an occasional plant. He was still ecstatic about coming, even a little nervous, not knowing what to expect on his first expedition away from the Monastery. His heart jumped in his chest when the alarm was raised. A large group of bandits were assaulting the caravan in overwhelming numbers and they had to be slain before anything was stolen.

Locke quickly drew his Moonblade and urged his steed forward. Looking around he spotted a couple of caravan mercenaries being overwhelmed by bandits. He urged his steed forward to try and aide them, but a bandit's blade bit deep into a guard's neck and he fell off his horse, already dead. Locke's anger overtook him as he saw the guard cry out in agony and die, with the bandit's contemptuous smirk at seeing this. Anger flashed in his eyes as Locke slashed the first bandit across the back of the neck, easily beheading him, and startling the three remaining bandits. He quickly jerked his steed right, turned his blade so that it was facing down the length of his arm, and impaled another through his chest. He wrenched his blade from the bandit as his victim slumped forward, eyes rolled up into his head, blood leaking from the corner of his mouth. The bandits recovered from the shock that had seized them and charged Locke with their steeds, swords drawn, yelling madly the whole way.

Or that's what they had planned to do anyways, when suddenly a fireball flew from behind Locke and slammed square into the caravan guard's chest_. Shit_, Locke thought as the caravan guard fell off his horse, screaming in agony as his flesh boiled from his bones. The blast knocked one bandit off his horse, charring his left arm rendering it useless, killeing the caravan guard's horse and setting the wagon behind it on fire. The remaining raider turned his attention to the spellcaster wide-eyed with anger at nearly becoming part of the barbeque. This gave Locke just enough time to recite the words of a spell, focus his attention at the him, and blast the bandit from his saddle with a glacial spike that impaled the bandit and pinned him to the side of the wagon.

Locke turned his head trying to locate the sorcerer but was immediately occupied by the first unhorsed bandit. He had recovered from the blast and was charging him with his right arm wielding his scimitar. Locke swung his sword viciously at the bandit's head, but missed as the bandit ducked under the blow and rolled under his horse. He hopped to his feet on the other side of Locke's steed but immediately had a hand encompassing his skull.

Locke began yelling an incantation, with the fire of anger in his eyes, as he stared at the bandit with a slight smirk on his face. The bandit yelled and swung his scimitar at his arm, hoping to lop it off, but was suprised at Locke's agility as he brought his sword around and blocked the incoming blow. As Locke finished the spell, his hand immediately burst into bright blue flames. The bandit's eyes immediately boiled and burst, the spell also singed the flesh off of his skull where Locke had placed his hand. The bandit screamed in agony until Locke removed his hand and the bandit collapsed to the sand. Thankfully he was dead before he was trampled by Locke's steed, frantically trying to heed it's masters command to leap over the corpse toward the novice mage that had tried to fry Locke earlier.

Locke charged the mage while his steed bowled over several other bandits in the process, but suddenly got smacked off of his horse by the pole of a halberd that was swung into his path. He flew from his horse and landed on his back, hard. A grisly man with a huge bleeding gash over his right eye raised his battleaxe over his head, preparing to split Locke's head like a melon. The bandit suddenly jerked and began coughing up blood, he jerked again and went down. Luckily Locke dove out of the way before he was crushed by the huge man's girth. He saw the man had been feathered with two silver-shafted arrows with blue feathers. Locke managed a half-hearted smile as he glanced up at Marianna, atop her horse with her bow, releasing another one of her arrows into the face of a scrawny bandit with a rapier. He fell, clawing at the arrow protruding from his left eye, his mouth open, yet it emitted no sound.

He quickly rolled to the right, and turned to face the person behind him. The mage turned, startled with her eyes wide with terror quickly backing away from him. She was actually quite beautiful with her olive skin, long black hair, big brown eyes, and beautifully shaped face. The dress she was wearing had a divided skirt, so it could be worn riding, was white, or should have been, it was more of a brownish color with red trim. He also noticed a silver coronet perched on her head, and it was set with a flawless amethyst and had strange runes written on either side of the gem. _Damn,_ he thought as he raised his sword to slay her but he was suddenly bowled over by a burly man wearing chainmail that had an arrow sticking out of the base of his skull.

Locke was trapped under the man's girth for a couple of minutes, the sounds of battle still raging above and around him. He summoned all his strength, invoked a quick spell, and violently kicked the man into the air roughly ten feet. He quickly rolled to the left as the man crashed into the sand, shoving the arrow straight out through where his nose should have been, the arrow was decorated with stringy chunks of brain strung to the shaft. He quickly got to his feet to find the bandits retreating. He glanced around and identified the fallen corpse of the mage he had spotted earlier. _What a waste_, Locke thought sadly as he rolled the mage's body over. He noticed a considerably large lump on the left side of her head, but other than that she appeared to be alive. He quickly checked for a pulse, hopeful yet fearful, but when he found one he let out a pent up breath he did not realize he had been holding. He made sure she was breathing, then quickly picked her up and began carrying her toward the caravan with the remaining survivors and those taken captive.

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Marija cried out in pain as a jolt awakened her from her slumber. _Aww Hell_, she thought as she clutched her bruised head and steadied herself. She opened her eyes and was startled as she saw a person hunched over in a corner next to her. She sat up quickly and gasped as she realized where she was. Her head suddenly became swimmy and she began to fall toward the floor. The last thing she remembered was being caught by strong arms, and a pair of beautiful blue eyes...

She sat up quickly, still startled from her last awakening episode. _Where the hell am I_, she thought as she glanced around. She quickly concluded that her surroundings were different, changing from the back of a wagon to a small room. A new robe was set next to her bed, white with green trim, her staff on the far wall near the door. She sat up and realized that she was naked and quickly covered herself again, nervously glancing around the room to see if anyone was there. She saw a dark figure slumped over in a chair in the corner of the room apparently sleeping, and sighed gratefully. She cautiously got out of bed and screamed as the dark figure quickly glanced up and saw her in nothing.

The man quickly glanced away and blushed as the sorceress screamed as she got out of bed and noticed him observing her. "Calm down sorceress, there is no need to scream, it's the middle of the night and mercenaries awakened at this hour are likely to slit your throat," he quickly stated. The sorceress blankly stared at this, mouth gaped open, but quickly grabbed her clothes, jumped back onto her bed, and covered up with her thin sheet.

"Who the hell are you?" Marija loudly whispered, still startled from the stranger seeing her completely nude.

The dark figure simply said, "I am the reason you still draw breath." At this she closed her gaping jaw, blushed, and turned away from him. "My name is Lachlan Silverwind, but you may call me Locke if you wish."

"Thank you," she said quietly, with a hint of awe in her voice, "I appreciate it... but why?"

Locke simply stared at her provocative form beneath the thin sheet that covered her, or most of her. The sheet fell in such a way as to completely mold to the contours of her voluptuous body, making him feel slightly embarrassed. He shook his head to try and concentrate on something else.

"What's the matter," Marija asked, "Carver got your tongue?" She said playfully.

"I, uh... it... it's just that you scared me when your screamed, I didn't mean to startle you," he muttered just loud enough for her to hear.

Suddenly a knock came at the door, making both of them jump. As a man entered the room he peeked around the door and noticed Marija,

"Ah, it is good to know that you have survived, I thought I heard something" he said happily. Marija just smiled at him,

"Thank you for your concern... uh…"

"Warriv, my darling, call me Warriv," he chuckled.

She smiled in response, "You may call me Marija, Warriv. It is nice to meet you."

"Ah, but the pleasure is all mine, dear." At that moment she noticed that she had a problem, "Now, if you both don't mind..."

"Oh, sorry for the intrusion, we will both be on our way, won't we?" Warriv smiled warmly then suddenly slapped Locke on the back of the head, "Today, Lachlan."

He jolted out of his daze, "I heard you the first time," Locke said angrily then turned to Marija with a smile, "It was nice meeting you Marija, I will be back to check on you later."

As Locke got up to leave he turned to Marija and winked knowingly. Marija smiled as she turned away as she felt her face begin to grow warm, "Locke," she called out hopefully.

He quickly put his head back into the room and raised his eyebrow, "Yes?"

"I will seek you out later if you do not return soon enough for me," she turned away in dismissal as she blushed again and began to gather her clothes up as Locke closed the door and hurried to catch up to Warriv.

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It had been a 4 days that Locke had been in that room spending every waking moment in hopes that Marija would awake and be fine. Warriv, during this period of time, had gone to the palace mages with the coronet that had been confiscated from the beautiful, yet still unconcious mage. Locke had hopes of Warriv returning with good news, yet was sad that he couldn't go along with him. Locke even had his food delivered to the room, in fear of her awakening and him not being present.

"So, the Warders determined her to have been under some kind of mind control, is this true?" Locke asked.

Warriv shook his head sadly, "Yes Locke, they shattered the coronet she had on, they said that's what someone was using to control her."

Locke sighed gratefully, "Good, because it would be a waste if she truly was beyond help."

They continued on down the corridor, chatting about the strange individual who had been entrusted into Locke's care. They passed a servant bearing a large plate laden full of food with a wine pitcher and goblet.

"Did the Warders mention something about any runes when they examined it?"

Warriv looked up, "Yes they did... how did... how did you know about the runes?"

Locke shook his head in confusion and looked at Warriv skeptically, "I noticed them when I saw her during the battle, why do you ask?" Warriv eye's widened greatly at this. "The runes were supposed to be invisible to anyone unschooled in the art of Detection Magic..." he trailed off as he abruptly stopped and stared at Locke.

"I have never studied any Detection Magic Warriv, you know that... my sister taught me most of the spells that I know," Locke said defensively. Warriv suddenly shook his head and rubbed his temples. "Your right, I know that... it's just... weird," he trailed off as he began walking toward the mess hall, idly chatting as they wandered on.

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Marija wandered the mazelike corridors for what seemed like forever before she found a servant carrying a basket full of freshly baked bread.

"Do you know where someone by the name of Lachlan is?" She quickly asked. The servant looked at her and shook his head. "Ok... umm... oh, do you know anyone named Warriv?" she asked hopefully, chewing her bottom lip.

The servant mutely nodded and began walking away from her the way she had just came. _I guess I get to follow him_, she thought smiling, yet slightly baffled.

He quickly turned a corner and opened a door, looking at her to enter, "Thank you sir," she said as she passed through the door.

The servant pointed directly across the hall at a table. The mess hall was predominantly empty, except for three people sitting the corner opposite the door, and a couple of burly men scattered throughout the room, consuming their beers quietly. A couple of them looked up at her entrance and smiled with grins missing more teeth than were actually left. She attempted to navigate through the completely random table arrangement without going near anyone. She slowly worked her way to the other end of the mess hall, and as she approached she smiled as she recognized the one leaning back in his chair against the wall. Yet snippets of dialog floated over to her. She stopped a short distance behind the table as she eavesdropped on their quiet conversation.

"The coronet that she was wearing had angelic runes inscribed into it," the strange old man that had his back to her said, and had yet to notice her. "That is what troubles me, Locke, that you could see them without the aid of a specific magical incantation that your friend here has assured me that you don't know, along with your own assurances of course."

"I know that, but I'm telling you I saw them as clearly as I see the wrinkles in your face, old man," Locke said wearily, as though they had been over the point more than once. At this the old man laughed, and it spread to both of his compatriots, along with Marija. She suppressed a giggle but the old man looked behind him, "Ah, so I see that, although Locke's description was awe-inspiring, it did you no justice."

Marija blushed a deep red at hearing this, and turned away embarassed.

"Come, sit... oh forgive me, my memory does leave me occasionally..." he said with a quick smile. "Marija," Locke quickly interjected cutting her off. As she turned to sit, she glanced at Locke who just smiled at her.

"My name is Deckard Cain. It truly is a pleasure to meet you, Marija," he said as she seated herself.

"Thank you, the pleasure is all mine," she said as he smiled affectionately at her. They gradually began talking about where she had come from, who she was, and primarily what had transpired for her to be in the predicament that she was rescued from not a week before.

"I don't really remember," she said in sad reflection as memories of her childhood came flooding back to her. "I would like to come with you, Locke... you know, to find my home," Marija said with such a tone that brooked no argument.

"Well, I believe that would be up to Locke to decide, my dear."

After much deliberation over dinner, and a few more beers than advisable, it was decided that she would allowed to go with Locke to try and find her home. "I appreciate this opportunity to travel with you," she said smiling. She looked over at Locke and winked at him with a knowing look in her eye, then burst out laughing.

"We don't know when we will leave, as you know, but when we do I personally will come get you if you aren't around," Locke said with a slight smile twisting the corners of his mouth, for he knew she would be.

"I will be out for a bit, I must buy some supplies and find my sister," Locke half slurred. He stood up, after falling against a wall and laughing with his companions, straightened his leather vest, dusted himself off, and walked out of the mercenary's quarters and out onto the early morning streets of Lut Gholien.

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Thank you for reading my story, hopefully I will have another chapter up soon. Hope you enjoyed it... please read and review.

I would also like to make a special thank you to my personal Proofreading Paper clip, thanks man.


	3. New Places

The Rebirth Of Evil

Chapter 2

New Places

The evening was cold, with the sun barely visible behind the barrier mountains as it slowly crawled down the sky. A couple of drunks were just leaving Atma's tavern when one of them was pushed aside by a man rudely entering the crowded doorway. Atma looked up at the intruder and sighed, _Not another one, this will make the third one in an hour. _The stranger walked up to Atma and eyed her curiously under his black hood that effectively hid his face.

"Do you know where I can..."

"No, I do not know where to find anyone fitting the description you are going to give me, nor have I seen anyone matching that description," she quickly spat back at the cloaked figure.

"Very well then, if I find out that you have, you will find your death most unpleasant," the stranger said as he eyed her contemptuously.

The stranger quickly spun on his heels and marched out of the tavern. _Great, now they're threatening me, _Atma thought with a sigh. She turned and slowly climbed the stairs to the upper level of her tavern, which served as her home. It had been a little over a week since Locke and his sister had been in Lut Gholien, yet they still came to her tavern every day. She knocked on the door and found it open so she gently pushed it, and was startled to find Locke sparring with his big sister Marianna, their blades covered with hardened leather training sheathes. She stopped and stared in fascination at the intricate dance of steel that they wove as they moved around the room with ease.

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"Give up little one, you can't beat me!" she said as she viciously made a sideways cut that Locke jumped back to avoid.

"You just don't want to admit that I could beat you," he retorted smiling. Suddenly, he lunged at Marianna. She deftly sidestepped it to the left and quickly whirled her longsword around in an uppercut and smashed him in the chest, sending him stumbling backwards, gasping for air. She quickly rolled forward and swiped around in a clockwise arch, sending Locke's feet out from under him and causing him to collapse to the wooden floor with a loud thud. Marianna got to her feet and walked over to where her brother lay clutching his leg.

"Looks like I bested you again, little brother," she said with a grin as she pointed her longsword at his throat.

He looked up at his sister with a fire in his eyes, "Yeah, you wish," he said with a grim smirk. Locke quickly rolled and swung his sheathed Moonblade counterclockwise, catching Marianna behind her right calf and causing her collapse onto her knee in pain. Seeing his opportunity, he rolled toward her, and vaulted over his sister with ease. He spun his blade overhead and smacked his sister in the back with the flat of his blade, knocking her face down onto the floor.

"Oh crap,"he said remorsefully as his sister groaned and collapsed back down onto the floor. He quickly rushed to her aide but was quickly waved off, receiving a smack on the side of the head in the process.

"Don't worry, you did what you had to... I am proud of you, Locke."

"Thank you, sis," he said as he picked her up and gave her a big hug.

Atma, at this point, knocked on the door and caught the surprised stares of both of the warriors. Marianna looked to be in bad condition, with her face red from exertion, her long raven hair tied up into a loose bun with ribbons woven through it. She bore a small cut on her arm from the battle in the desert, although it did look better today it still looked swelled and infected. Yet aside from a slight limp, she looked in no worse condition than you would expect. Locke however looked horrible, with his face predominately red and purple, due to a bruise forming on the left side of his head, just beneath his eye. He also had a two bruise forming on his right arm, which now hung limp at his side, and a bruise on his left calf where he had been smacked earlier.

"Sorry to disturb you, but I thought I would let you know that another one just stopped by," she said regretfully, hating to be the bearer of bad news yet again.

"Damn, why are they trying to find me? I haven't done anything!"

"Do not worry lil' brother… yet you lie, you have done something lately," she said playfully.

"What have I done, oh greatest big sister that I own?" he said with a smirk.

"Well, there was that one night with Marija," she laughed

"I did not do anything with her, Marianna!" he said defensively. Locke's hand shot out as he shoved Marianna down as she began laughing harder.

At this point Atma had caught onto their little game and began laughing herself. _It is good to have such good company again_, she thought for, at least, the tenth time today.

Locke stood up, staring aghast at his sister and Atma laughing hysterically at him. And for what? Saving a beautiful woman's life, and a sorceress at that. _At least I could save her_, he thought suddenly.

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_"Why did you save me? You never really answered me."_

_"Well... I, uh..."_

_"You thought I was beautiful, did you not?"_

_"What!"_

_"Do not try and hide it, I know you did, you still do... I can see it in your eyes."_

_"I... uh, wanted to... save you because I figured that...that, uh... you could not be with those bandits by choice... you looked terrified on the battlefield."_

_"Yeah, whatever was holding onto me just suddenly let go, and I just could not believe where I was... I nearly collapsed out of fright."_

_"Well... I am just glad that you're ok now."_

_"Yeah, so am I... but you will not deflect me! Now answer my question, and no lies this time."_

_"I did n... ok, I rescued you because you were beautiful, happy?"_

_"Yes, and for your honesty you get a present..."_

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Locke snapped back to reality as Marianna and Atma stopped laughing and returned to their feet. He looked at them and smiled to himself. "I swear, nothing happened," he muttered.

"Well, I'm beat... I'm gonna get some sleep," Marianna said yawning.

"Yeah, me too," Locke drowsily muttered.

"Ok, I will close the tavern and be up in a little, goodnight you two," she chuckled.

"Goodnight Atma," cried two voices in unison as she shut the door and headed back downstairs.

As Locke bedded down for the night he could not stop thinking about Marija. He had left her with Cain at his small house, thinking that she would be safe there. Now he wondered about the wisdom of his judgment. _Oh well,_ he thought,_ nothing I can do about it now._ He quickly dressed down to his woolen pants, lethargically climbed onto his cot, and pulled the thin sheet over him. "Good night sis," he said as he rolled over and shut his eyes. If she replied, it fell upon deaf ears, as Locke quickly fell asleep.

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_The sun was suddenly very bright for him, as he arose from the soft grass he had been laying on. He looked around and saw he was in a beautiful meadow with a massive tree shading the spot he had been napping on. A dazzling river flowed as far as the eye could see, gently curving as it passed the tree and shimmered when it hit the sunlight. Gently rolling hills encompassed the small meadow, giving the impression of perfect isolation and serenity. A hushed shout reached his ears as he turned toward the source of the noise. He saw Marianna running toward him, waving her hands over her head. He waved back at her, although he got the impression that she was not just waving in greeting. Suddenly a dark flash echoed from behind the hill she was running away from. Suddenly he got a horrible vision of a vile wind eroding a beautiful palace to nothing, like a giant leach sucking the life out of everything. He shook his head and yelled out to Marianna, yet was mortified to realize that he was on top of a snowy plateau, with an unnatural storm raging around him. He could faintly hear the din of a huge battle raging over the detestable driving wind. He noticed a dark, horrible winged apparition approaching him from a distance, slowly stalking forward like a predator approaching its' kill. It wore black robes underneath twisted, dark gray plate mail. The apparition's glowing red eyes were the only discernable feature of its face due to it being hidden under the thing's huge hood. Yet the wings are what troubled him, those huge black wings that seemed to pulse with an eerie unnatural light. Suddenly the dark phantasm was swinging his seemingly huge black sword at him, and he blocked it, yet the sheer force of the blow knocked him down onto his feet. Suddenly he was exhausted, too exhausted to do anything but raise his head to look at his executioner and accept his fate. Suddenly Marianna burst from the storm and placed herself between him and that vile specter. Suddenly she was floating in the air, a wretched black blade protruding from her chest. He noticed her eyes, and the pain and sorrow that they carried as something was ripped out of her very being. He screamed in rage, horror, and utter disheartenment as his only support line was severed by this infernal phantom. He abruptly noticed a glowing red crystal shard sticking from the thing's chest and decided that it should the focus of his rage. He drew in all the energy around him, more than he could ever hope to skillfully wield, and focused all his hate at this thoroughly nefarious being and that wretched shard and just let go..._

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"Wake up damn you!" Marianna cried as she held her younger sibling down as he continued to convulse on his bed. Atma ran into the room holding a pail and quickly heaved it's contents onto Locke and his distraught sister.

Locke quickly returned to reality as he sat up from the sudden shock of being instantly chilled to the bone. Soaked and shaking, he looked around the room frantically, still trying to discern fantasy from reality. He spotted his sister with tears running down her face, soaked and sobbing, kneeling next to his cot. He quickly swung his legs over toward her and embraced his hysterical sister, whispering in her ear in a futile attempt to calm her down. He glanced up at Atma and nodded his head in sympathetic thanks. She nodded her head in return and went downstairs to return the pale, shutting the door and letting them have some privacy for a while.

"You had another nightmare... didn't you?" Marianna asked sadly.

"Oh sis... I am so sorry," he said breathlessly

"It's ok, I just don't like to see you like... that," she muttered.

Locke ungracefully got off of his bed and pulled his sister closer to him, "It's ok now... don't worry, everything's alright." As he said this she brushed a tear away, and looked up at him with sad eyes. He glanced down at those eyes, the same eyes that had haunted him in his nightmare, and sadly shook his head in despair. He wanted so badly to tell her what he had seen, but that would upset her too badly at the moment judging from what she had just endured. He simply hugged her tighter to him, "Everything's all right now... don't cry anymore, ok?" he whispered hopefully. She mutely nodded and curled closer to him, se arching for comfort she desperately craved.

"I'll be ok now, I think... I'm gonna head back to bed," Marianna said quietly.

"Ok... hey, don't frown, it could get stuck that way," he smiled.

She abruptly began giggling, then looked at him and smiled, "You remember when Mom used to say that, don't you."

"Yeah, and it never fails to make you smile," he said chuckling.

She walked over to him and gave him a big hug, "Love ya, Locke."

"Love you too Mari."

Marianna playfully shoved him upon hearing this, "You know I hate being called that, now get to bed before I have to beat you up again," she said cheerfully.

"Oh, like that could ever happen," he said sarcastically.

"Don't make me," she said playfully threatening as she half turned and pointed at him.

He smiled in return, "Ok Mari," he whispered.

Locke rolled over and smiled in spite of what had just transpired. He eventually fell asleep, long after Atma and Marianna had drifted off, but all that he could think about were her eyes...

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Locke awoke the next morning and the dread of what had happened the night before was finally sinking in. _Damn it_, he thought,_ why is this happening to me?_ He cautiously got out of his cot, careful not to awake his still sleeping sister. He quickly donned his gear and belted on his Moonblade, checking that his armor was securely fastened. He glanced over at her when he had snuck over to the door and smiled, she looked so peaceful when she slept with her hair splayed all out over her pillow, and a slight smile twisting her lips.

He gently descended the stairs to find Atma playing barkeep to the early morning drinkers that had somehow stumbled into her tavern. He gave a quick wave as he headed out of the tavern into the near empty early morning streets. He paused for a breath of fresh air. _I gotta talk to Cain about these dreams,_ he thought sadly as he began to wander toward Cain's home. Locke wandered the lonely streets, passing a few people, who just nodded and hurried on as he passed them. He unconsciously slipped his hand in his pocket and felt something cold. As he halted and slowly pulled the object out of his pocket, he was startled to find a beautiful amulet in the palm of his hand.

_Oh damn, Marija must have slipped this in my pocket when..._ The memory came flooding back to him. He was having a chat with her in the small room that he had taken her to on the first night they had arrived, when she had brought up the fact that he had avoided answering why he had saved her. She had playfully pried the answer out of him, and had given him a very nice present. He reached up with his right hand and touched his lips. He could still feel them tingle just as they had when she had leaned toward him, her beautiful hair falling past her shoulders, her deep brown eyes sparkling as she stared at him. That and the feeling of his hand pressing on the back of her neck was still enough to cause him to shiver, even now.

_Oh well,_ Locke thought as he stared down at his left hand, the amulet still innocently laying on his palm. The amulet was quite striking, with a beautiful sapphire shaped like a heart set on the bottom, while it had two masterfully sculpted wings jutting out from the sides of the gem, as if it were in mid-flight. Above that was a small mystic-fire topaz lined with silver, being supported by an intricate weave of gold, silver, and sapphire that gave the appearance of an hourglass with millions of blue grains of sand inside of it, some in mid-fall.

He carefully took the amulet and secured it around his neck, and felt a cold chill run through him. _Must have been the cold_, he thought dismissively as the amulet quickly warmed to the touch of his skin. _I wonder if Marianna will like it... oh crap, Marianna. _ At the thought of his sister he remembered his dream and remembered what his urgent errand was. He began walking at a brisk pace toward Cain's humble abode, when he heard a shout echo through the chilly, morning air. He glanced around quickly and determined the direction the shout had come from. He set off at a run, but froze when he turned a corner and saw what had disturbed the lazy morning.

The woman's head slumped forward as the hooded figure wrenched his blade from his poor victim's back. As she fell to the ground, the murderous thing looked up at Locke, and let out a powerful whistle. Locke covered his ears, yet the whistle reminded him of a dream he had almost two weeks ago. He quickly drew his Moonblade and ran toward the perpetrator. "You are the one that we seek," the hooded creature whispered as it drew its' glowing obsidian longsword and snapped it into a guard. All of a sudden the ground began to shake, and everywhere around the enclosed market they were in, a great dust cloud rose into the sky, threatening to block out the sun. Locke quickly turned around and was startled as he faced a host of big, brutish creatures that stood as though human, yet resembled nothing of the sort. They were mostly covered in fur, except for their doglike faces and razor clawed hands. Their beady black eyes were set deeply above their long snouts which held four curved fangs. The inner pair facing toward the ground, and the outer pair facing skyward. "Attack my wretched _Kragouri,_ rend him limb from limb!" The _Kragouri_ host let out a long, blood chilling howl as they dropped down till all four feet touched the ground, and began their advance toward Locke.

"You will regret this, you foul creature," Locke spat at the hooded figure.

"You will make a meager meal for my master's pets, you sniveling little worm," the thing calmly stated.

"You can tell your master personally that I will survive to pay him a visit."

"I do not believe that he would wish to see you, now die you pathetic wretch!"

At this Locke broke into a run, fleeing from the approaching _Kragouri_. They beastly host howled and took off in pursuit of him. Locke quickly darted out of the marketplace around and corner and quickly tried to deduce the quickest way back the mercenaries' quarters. _No, Marija is there_, he thought in distress as the beasts pursuing him rounded the corner and yelped as they spotted him again. _The docks!_ he thought suddenly,_ I can lure them into the water there,_ and with this mindset he suddenly bolted to the right, once again causing his pursuers to lose sight of him. He glanced behind him and coldly realized that with the rate the beasts were gaining on him, he wasn't going to make it to the docks alive.

Locke began muttering a spell causing his hands to begin glowing, quickly guessed at the range of his spell, and flung two fireballs up into the air ahead so they would arc forward before dropping. He glanced back at the rampant mob chasing him, and invoked a spell to help him gain some ground on them. Every time his feet hit the ground, silver sparks flew and a blue bootprint was left behind. Locke turned a corner and the _Kragouri _were about to follow him, when the fireballs Locke had launched earlier rained down on two unlucky beasts causing them to fall, tripping or lighting on fire those unfortunate enough to be behind them.

The bests howled in protest and pain as they stamped out burning fur and picked themselves up off the ground. A slightly larger _Kragouri_ with a patch of fur burned off of his left shoulder, and a golden amulet set with a flawless ruby hung around his neck, let out a harsh bark. He started off with the other four beasts whom had fallen from Locke's magical ambush, either from being hit, or tripped.

_Oh shit,_ Locke thought as he turned another corner and came to a dead end. A large crack in the wall showed that the other side held the way to the docks. He quickly glanced behind him and felt a cold pit in his stomach as the ravenous mob rounded the corner not twenty-five feet away from him. As he approached the wall an idea dawned on him and he leaped into the air. Locke slammed into the wall, yet somehow managed to grab the lip of the wall instead of crashing down to a most certain and horrible doom. He swung his legs and vaulted over the wall, and when he hit the ground his feet were already moving. About three seconds after that the _Kragouri_ blasted through the wall, reducing it to rubble by a stampede of rampaging beasts.

The _Kragouri_ barked and yelped in surprise as they tumbled off the docks and into the crystal clear water of the ocean. Several blue shafts flew in rapid succession at the floundering mob, causing a few to vanish underwater. Locke looked to his right and spotted Marija with Marianna wielding her bow and a couple of city guards, loosing another volley at the beasts. _I tried to keep her safe too, and look what happens_, he thought as a bolt of thunder arced down at the drenched wretched beasts. He glanced down as the beasts shook in the water from the phenomenal amount of electricity coursing through their bodies.

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Marianna had awoken to the sound of the second-story door closing. _What..._ she thought absently as she sat up and glanced around, her long raven hair falling past her shoulders just long enough to barely cover her breasts. _I hope Locke's alright_, she said as she noticed her brother's cot vacant, with the sheet halfway thrown on the floor. She got out of bed, and stumbled to the bath, nearly falling in. _A nice long bath, then I'll go looking for him_, she thought as she remembered what had transpired the night before. Marianna was tired, because after Locke's episode she had gotten some broken sleep, constantly being awoken by her own nightmares. She slowly eased herself into the steaming tub of water after it had finished filling. _Thank you Atma_, she thought graciously. Atma had taken it upon herself to heat and bring food and hot water for her every morning, not that she couldn't do it herself, but because Atma was trying to repay her for saving the world from the evil clutches of Baal. Locke had blatantly refused to be pampered, preferring to go and eat his meals with the mercenaries or with that peculiar girl Marija that held his fancy. _And if he is not with her, then I will have to go and talk with her_. With that decided she finished her bath, taking her time of course, got dressed, donned her gear, and headed out for the mercenaries quarters.

"Well, do you know where she is now," Marianna inquired of a grisly mercenary sitting at a table drinking their sixteenth beer of the morning.

"Thee, uh... purty un?" The drunk slurred.

She shook her head in frustration "Yes, the pretty one, where did she go."

"Thaet frend uv yurs tuk herr to thaat... Caines howse..."

"Thank you ever so much," she said in disgust as he belched and abruptly passed out, making a loud thud in the process of causing himself even more brain damage.

_Just the place I wanted to spend my morning_, she thought sadly as she wandered out of the mercenaries quarters towards Cain's house. She heard a shout and vaguely wondered what it could have been. _It sounded like it came from over there_, she thought glancing over toward where Cain's house lay. _Might as well check on the way_, she thought when suddenly a huge dust cloud rose up like a huge creature blotting out the sun. Dry thunder shook the ground, _Locke, _she thought suddenly. She quickly sprinted forward toward the source of the disturbance. When she had reached the place she turned a corner and looked around a small marketplace where the event had transpired, yet she only saw a woman facedown on the ground, still and unmoving. She also noticed the puddle of blood she was laying in. Marianna ran over to the woman and knelt down beside her. She rolled the corpse over and was saddened to see a beautiful girl lying with a look of shock and emptiness splayed across her face. She also noticed a horrible stab wound and quickly assessed the cause of death. _I must find Marija... she must be with Locke,_ she thought hopefully. Once again, she sprinted off in the direction of Cain's home.

She never stopped running as she blasted through the door. Cain and Marija looked at her as though death had darkened their doorstep, yet quickly realized it was Marianna.

"Locke's in trouble, come with me Marija!" she said quickly as she turned to leave again.

"Wait..." Marija said with a confused look upon her face.

"No time, hurry!"

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Marija was startled by Marianna busting down Cain's door and demanding that she leave immediately because of Locke. Even her attempt to try and get an explanation from her only resulted in her yelling a response as she sprinted out the door.

"Now remember Marija, you must precisely speak every word or the spell will backfire, killing you and anyone remotely near you." Cain said cautiously as Marija got up and quickly began gathering her things.

"I know Cain, and thank you for spending you time with me," she said hurriedly as she rushed out the door.

"Once again, the pleasure was all mine." he said to no one in particular, for Marija had already fled his dwelling as though Sand Maggots had suddenly risen from the floor.

Marija quickly caught up to Marianna, "Where is Locke?" she said breathing irregularly.

"I don't know, I was hoping that you would know!" Marianna said with a slight pang of distress.

"I was hoping that he was with you!" she said with the same tone of voice as her companion.

"Well, lets ask Meshif is he's seen him," she said hopefully.

"Ok, lead the way."

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"Finally!" Marianna cried as she spotted Meshif wandering along the docks, hollering at a group of lazy dockworkers, most of whom sulked away back to their tasks mumbling unhappily.

"Hey Meshif, have you seen my little brother anywhere?"

"You mean Locke? No I haven't seen him, why do you ask?"

"Well..."

At that moment a horrendous crash sounded off to their left. They all turned to see a mob of huge furry brutish creatures running headlong into the ocean. Marianna quickly drew her bow, grabbed a handful of arrows, and skillfully loosed them at the squirming figures in the water. Several shafts struck heads and throats, causing more than one beast to gurgle as they disappeared from the land of the living. Suddenly she heard Marija chanting and gesturing toward the floating creatures, and quickly covered her ears right before a thunderous crack split the air, like a giants whip cracking overhead. She saw the creatures convulsing in the water, shaking from the sickeningly immense amount of electricity frying them from the inside out.

She heard a roar from behind her and turned just in time to see a huge beast, larger than the ones in the water, swat her aside like a tiny insect. Her body slammed against a crate, shattering it while burying her under the rubble in the process. She struggled to sit up, and she noticed the behemoth advancing upon her brother, who just stared at it in brave defiance. She wanted to scream at him to run but her head suddenly became very light. The last thing she remembered before darkness took her was a strange glowing amulet hanging from her little brother's neck...

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I'm deeply sorry for my story temporarily being offline. I have posted the reason why on my profile. Plus, I would just like to remind everyone that I feel bad for not having Chapter 3 done by now. I have just had a lot of stuff come up lately.


	4. A Bad Feeling

The Rebirth Of Evil

Chapter 3

A Bad Feeling

The large _Kragouri_ let out a bloodthirsty roar as it swatted the wimpy human aside into a pile of crates, which collapsed on top of her. It grunted in satisfaction as it turned all its attention back toward the other puny mortal. It took a menacing step forward as it roared again at the defiant human, who was simply standing with its sword drawn. It let out a deep, throaty growl and suddenly shot forward, it's clawed feet tearing up stone and dust as it bolted toward the tiny youth.

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He stared at the approaching _Kragouri_ as it stalked toward him with a grim smirk on his face and a determined set of his jaw and stance. He had an angry fire burning with contempt in his eyes at this creature who could have killed his sister. He didn't know yet, but the dust cloud settling over her crash site led to grim thoughts. Suddenly the _Kragouri_ growled angrily and leapt forward at him.He began chanting a spell with as much speed as he could muster, as the monster was getting dangerously close to him.

"Locke, watch out!" Marija screamed.

Locke threw a fireball at the brutish creature and threw himself into a roll, pulling him out of the path of the charging monstrosity. The beast yelped in anger as the fireball slammed into its' already injured shoulder, singeing the flesh and cauterizing the wound. He realized a second before the beast slammed into the wall that this monster was going to be quite hard to kill. The oversized _Kragouri_ growled in anger and frustration as he whipped around and threw a chunk of wall it clutched in his right hand at Locke. The huge _Kragouri_ fist-sized chunk of rock caught him on his left shoulder before he could react, or even think for that matter. Locke screamed in pain as he violently spun around and collapsed to the stony dock. His Moonblade flew from his hand right after impact, and the blow caused his head to sharply ache, along with his right arm.

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Marija stared in horror as the massive brute flung a huge rock that impacted Locke, sending him sprawling and weaponless. She felt a cold chill run down her spine as she began to sweat; _that monster is going to eat him alive!_ she thought, _I must protect him, he's too... wonderful, and caring, and handsome, and… Oh shit!_ As Marija was standing there gazing at him admiringly, the _Kragouri_ had stared running on two legs, and then dropped down onto all fours, causing a loud thud. She quickly began chanting, raising her arms perpendicular to her body, palms facing outward. Her palms began glowing a bright red, and as she mumbled the last few words of the incantation a cone of flame shot from them toward the rushing _Kragouri_. The brutish creature roared in pain as the wave of fire hit its right side, immediately charring the flesh of it's right arm, and burning off most of the fur around it. The creature immediately stopped itsmad dash, saving itself from further injuries, and stared at the puny sorceress in confusion as though noticing her for the first time.

"Why do you attack me, sorceress? You serve the Dark Lord, such as I do," the huge monster growled in flawless human tongue.

"You... you can talk?" Marija asked in amazement and disgust.

"What is the matter, puny mortal? We have spoken occasionally, or have you forgotten?" It growled suspiciously.

"What Dark Lord do you speak of?" she asked apprehensively.

"You puny human! You deny your... our Master?"

"No, I just..."

"Traitor! I will tear off your limbs and feast on your entrails!"

The large _Kragouri_, which seemed massive to Marija now that it was menacingly stalking toward her, let out a deep growl. All she could do was just stare in horror as it bared its fangs in a feral grin and raised its claw in what was going to be the end of her life. Oddly enough she wasn't scared, only sad, _I'm sorry Locke... I will miss you._

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Locke lifted his head, half-conscious, and noticed the huge beast with it's right arm badly burnt barking and growling at Marija, while she stood there and talked back to it, as though they understood each other. He grimaced as he tried to stand, putting pressure on his badly swelling shoulder. He grunted as he lifted himself off of the ground, carefully brushing off small chunks of boulder that clung to his shirt and stared at the strange phenomena. The creature ahead of him growled in clear anger and began to deliberately walk toward Marija. _Great_, Locke thought as he glanced about for his Moonblade and spotted it fairly easily. He ran over to it, quickly snatching it up as he ran by, and sprinted toward the menacing _Kragouri_. He raced up its back and plunged his blade into its left shoulder, causing it's raised arm to fall limp and leaving it with no feasible way to attack. It roared in pain as it quickly turned its head, biting off Locke's left pant leg. He quickly grabbed the Moonblade's handle and vaulted off the brute as soon as he heard Marija muttering under her breath. Two swirling fireballs slammed into the monster's chest, lighting it on fire and sending it stumbling backward nearly knocking over Locke in the process. Locke flourished his blade and jammed it into the creature's ribcage. It howled in protest and agonizing pain as its lung's began quickly filling with blood.

"If I go down, your coming with me, you puny mortal!" the brute uttered as it's hand shot out and grasped Locke's head, easily fitting it in the palm of it's hand. He stumbled back a few steps as the pressure began to cause his brain to scream in protest. Suddenly the ground began shaking, accompanied by a huge cracking sound as the earth began to split. The mortally wounded creature roared in anger and protest as the ground shifted away from him, leaving it lying on an ever-widening crack. It released its grip in suprise and terror, causing Locke to fall to the ground, slightly dazed. It pitifully wailed as it began falling down the massive fissure that ran the length of the city. The creature barked something just before it lost its grip and began falling down the massive gap running into the ground.Locke ran forward to try and see what the gap held and was astonished and horrified beyond words.

The grand fissure that had opened up ran twice the span of the city at least, or so Locke thought as he gazed into the gap. _It must run deep enough to hold the world in and still have room left over._ For the gap ran down as far as the eye could tell, and what was there frankly scared the shit out of him. There were humans, or souls of humans, for they wailed and moaned as they scaled the walls of the crack, trying to return to the land of the living. He saw a few slip or were pulled down by human-sized winged creatures, the souls screaming in some horrible unknown tongue as they were cast back down into the very depths of the Underworld. Suddenly one of the horrible winged creatures flew over the edge of the lip and landed on top of him.

The creature was undoubtedly a Succubus, judging from what his sister had seen of them and had told him of. She was actually quite beautiful, and despite the creature being absolutely, horribly evil, she was quite gorgeous. She wore a gray, short sleeved, form fitting shirt that barely covered below her ample breasts covered by a scant leather jerkin cut to enhance the effect. She wore a very small pair of shorts, along with knee high plated boots. She had two leather pauldrons and a wingspan of about 4 feet, all of which were spread out, blocking out the sun. Her breath was acrid, such as sulfur and brimstone would be, and she smiled as she licked her lips and leaned forward to enjoy her meal. Suddenly the creature jerked and began shrieking as it was pulled off of Locke, leaving several deep gashes where it tried to hold on with it's long, curved talons. He sat up and saw Marianna pulling on a rope that was attached to the arrow that had embedded itself in the evil wench's spine. It screamed in horror as she forcefully yanked the rope and sent it tumbling over the edge of the cliff just as the gap began to close. He looked up at Marianna surprised, she looked like hell though, with a makeshift bandage around her right thigh and a cut on her forehead, and yet she still saved his life. He suddenly stiffened, raised his right hand and banged it on the armor over his heart.

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Just as the dust was settling over her still form, she slowly regained consciousness. _What the hell?_ She silently wondered as she opened her eyes and saw she was in a half-broken in box. She tried to move and instantly regretted it, for the horrible pain from her head pulsing, and her right leg felt as though it was on fire. She glanced down as her leg and noticed it had a large chunk of wood going through most of it, that and along with the fact it was pinned in place just made her day. _Damnable dog thing... shit_. She suddenly heard the large _Kragouri_ roar in what seemed to be pain. _Speak of the devil, that's the bastard now_, she thought grimly. "Oh shit!" she moaned as she realized her little brother and that sorceress, _oh what's her face... Marija!_ She struggled to a sitting position and looked around for a loose piece of wood to bite on, and did so, and carefully wrenched the chunk of wood from her upper thigh. She silently screamed around the broken chunkin her mouth as tears began to stream down her dust caked face. She quickly spat the wood out of her mouth, tore off half of her right pant leg, and quickly tied it around her leg in a makeshift tourniquet. She heard the huge beast outside gurgle something as she prepared to kick the box open.

Suddenly the ground began to shake, and she feared that the boxes would collapse upon her at any moment. She heard a horrendous crack, followed by the sound of rushing water, and shrill, unearthly cries. With a grim determination she kicked at the collapsed boxes with her left until they gave way, and she quickly rolled out of her prison moments before it totally collapsed. With horror she looked around and saw undead everywhere, clawing their way out of a huge split in the ground. She saw Locke run toward the edge, saw the large _Kragouri_ tumble with his Moonblade in its chest, the same blade she had almost lost her life to get. The undead were almost at the top of the crevice, eager to once again step foot in the land of the living, and her little brother's horrified expression only reassured her own fears of what was happening.

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_The stairway was entirely constructed of stone outlined with bones, a horrible sight to see; yet this group had seen much worse. There were five of them, including herself, were standing around, drinking bittersweet healing potions or spelling wounds shut. The air was hot, and grimy with an overpowering scent of sulfur permeating the air, and the sky was black with dark gray clouds spotting the sky. Small, wormlike creatures, along with bigger four legged monsters lay slain everywhere, causing the air to, consequently, reek of death as well. There were piles of ash scattered around the battlefield, testifying to the horrible specter's that had been laid to waste. Huge crumpled forms in armor adorned the battlefield heavily, most having fallen due to huge gashes that cut through their armor as easily as a farmer's scythe to grain during harvest._

_"How could Tyrael have sent us on this damned fools errand?" grumbled Ter'Attha Gaenor. He was easily a head taller than all his traveling companions, about seven feet tall, with a massive greatsword strapped to his back, which was dripping with purple blood. Wearing armor customary of the barbarians of Harrogoth, which was also covered in blood, but the blood staining it was his own. His many wounds could easily be seen through the rent cloth, and they numbered many_.

_"You know as well as I do that we are sent down into this wretched wasteland to stop Diablo," calmly stated Garrod Liakatos, dressed in shining steel armor embroidered with gold. He held his arm out, cut it with his sword and quickly turned it blade down so the blood would run along it. When the blood reached the tip, he spun it and lodged it into the chest of the imprisoned soul shackled to a stone column along with three others. A blue light emanated from the creatures' hollow eyes and drifted away as the creature's head slumped forward. He had been repeating this action for every tortured soul he found chained, his arm being healed by the talented sorceress traveling with them._

_"Well, we aren't making any progress standing around here waiting for him to finish," said Mierin Kareena, glancing at the paladin in boredom as he freed another trapped soul. She hefted a rock and blasted it away with her Psychic Hammer ability, then disappeared for a moment before reappearing in front of the rock and kicking it into oblivion. Her black leather clothes glinted in the feeble light provided by a nearby lava river as she glanced at the bodies around her, Cestus covered in purple blood, she smiled to herself as she slowly walked back towards her companions._

_"Hey, Garrod is doing a service to these creatures... if you were trapped, wouldn't you want to be set free?" angrily inquired Cagalli Athrun. Her long green and gold robes flowing as she, once again, began magically sewing up Garrod's arm, moments before he cut it again. She twirled her staff in the air, then struck the ground with the butt of it, and the orb on the top of the staff began to glow ever so slightly._

_"Yes, Mierin. I couldn't imagine being trapped in this... this place, for eternity!" _

_"Yeah, but it's so boring waiting... can't we do something?" Mierin said as she nudged another rock with her toe as she stepped into the ever-widening circle of light emanating from the top of Cagalli's staff. Suddenly the ground began to violently shake, and the Stairway to Hell began spewing fire. Dozens upon dozens of pairs of eyes began to pop up from the darkness, surrounding them. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a horrible howl sounded and the horde of monsters began running towards them, showing themselves in the circle of light to be hundreds of Finger Mages and Oblivion Knights._

_"Well now we have something to do, happy Mierin?" Ter'Attha roared as he unstrapped his greatsword and swung it in a horizontal arc, effectively cleaving three Oblivion Knights in half and causing a Finger Mage to fizzle into dust._

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The shriek of an unearthly, tortured soul startled Marianna back into reality. She rolled to the left as a twisted and broken creature leaped at her, landing on all four feet where she was just moments before. _Shit! Where's my bow!_ She screamed to herself as she glanced at the pitiful soul as it unhinged its jaw, and flicked it's extremely long tongue at her. Thinking quickly, she pulled an arrow out of her quiver and readied herself against it. She noticed a sudden flicker of movement to her left, and as she turned she gasped as she saw a Succubus pin her little brother Locke to the ground. She began to cry out, but as she was about to shout, the creature leaped upon her back and dug its claws into her back. She screamed in pain as she grabbed its neck and plunged the arrow through its eye and out the back of its skull. As the creature fell off her back, she spotted her bow and ran toward it, as she pulled out her dagger, she began slashing her way toward it.

She rolled under a Succubus's dive as she grabbed her bow, quickly fit an arrow, and launched it into the back of its head. It made a sickening thud as it hit the ground and was pulled over the cliff by a twisted, vengeful soul. She glanced around and found what she was looking for, quickly snatched up a coil of rope and tied it around the shaft of her arrow. She fitted her modified arrow and shot it into the back of the Succubus that still pinned her little brother. She grasped the rope and yanked back on it, causing the vile creature to be sent screaming into the fissure to be torn apart by the pitiful souls she once tortured.

As she stood, she saw Locke stand and gaze at her. _I must look like hell,_ she thought as she studied his facial expressions as they changed from worried to amazed and back. She was startled as he stiffened and suddenly put his clenched fist over his heart. _That's exactly what..._ her thoughts trailed off as she remembered. The look on his face as the druid, Kalaleq, smiled at her... Her head suddenly became light as she slowly collapsed to the ground.

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Locke yelled to Marianna as he saw her slowly collapse to the ground.

"Shit! Marija, help me!" he yelled as he sprinted forward, dodging Succubi still swooping from the sky, and swipes from the tortured souls that were racing to find a mortal to feast on. He could already tell that this was going to end badly. He turned to reach for his sword, then realized with horror that it had plunged into the abyss in the chest of that huge beast.

"You get Marianna, I'll keep them off of you!" Marija shouted as she flung a chain lightning spell at a group of twisted creatures running at Marianna's still form. She looked up began chanting as a Succubus began it's dive toward her, screaming as it descended, only to be turned into screams of pain as a glacial spike impaled it through the chest, causing it to nearly hit her. She twirled her staff and brought it around smacking a screaming soul on the right side of it's head, then reversed it and incinerated a group of souls charging toward her. They screamed in horror as they were burned to ashes by Marija's inferno spell, causing them to remember their eternal torment of fire and brimstone moments before they were sent back there, to endure that same pain all over again.

Locke reached Marianna just as a group of nine pitiful wretched souls did. He leapt over his sister and bowled over the two creatures in the lead, causing the others to immediately turn and begin tearing at him. He screamed as he shot out his hand, catching one under his nose, causing the bone to plunge into what was left of it's brain, also causing it to tip over backwards as it died, again. Locke kicked out, catching two others square in the chest, sending them flying backwards. He rolled and spun his legs, causing three more to fall or be kicked away. He rose to one knee as he took the knife from his left boot, and plunged it into a downed creature's chest, then quickly extracting it and whipping it across another's throat. He rolled through a momentary opening, flung his arm right, and slammed another into the side of its head, causing the blade to protrude from it's right eye socket. He turned and kicked the creature off his blade and was rewarded by a slash across the back and a bite on his right upper arm.

As he screamed in pain, the amulet around his neck began to glow, in turn causing him to glow, and the creatures to scream and shy away from him. He noticed this and glanced down at it, _Hey, it's Marija's gift,_ he thought happily. He rose with new confidence and vigor, snatched his dagger from where it had fallen, and stood glowing a soft blue. He opened his eyes, and they too seemed to be glowing sockets of this holy, bluish light. As he turned toward a large group of souls, reinforced by Succubi, rushing at him, he raised his left hand, which was suddenly encompassed in a holy blue and silvery light, and began chanting.

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Y'gorl fell for what seemed as an eternity, roaring as he descended through never ending blackness. The unearthly silence broken only by the shrill cries of tormented creatures, being devoured by twisted masters. As he silently spun through the darkness, a faint red glow caught his attention, and as he stared at it, it slowly grew. The glow suddenly flared, and he found himself falling through the depths of Hell, and he roared in fear, for he knew what awaited him.

As he continued to descend, he spotted a huge throne, made entirely of bones, and felt his fur stand on end. He roared as his feet finally touched the ground, none too gently, causing him to go down on one knee. He winced in pain as the ground instantly began burning his feet, but he knew better than to cry out.

"How proper of you to show respect, Y'gorl," spoke a voice that echoed through the very depths of Hell. Its voice sounded of a twisted, holy grandeur, causing the Kragouri's brain to scream in unbearable agony upon hearing it.

"No, do not rise... you must pay in blood for failing me again," The creature murmured in its echoing voice as it suddenly stood from its throne. Y'gorl screamed in terror as he watched it's master stand to it's full height, nearly eight feet, and extend it's large, black wings, that pulsed with an eerie purple glow. It raised its gauntleted hand toward Y'gorl as the creature suddenly went rigid and was flung into the air, only to be sent careening toward the ground a moment later.

Suddenly, a bright blue light emanated from Y'gorl's chest, nearly blinding his master, who shrieked in horror at the offending object. Y'gorl looked down and saw the blade that was shoved in his chest was glowing. He roared a defiant challenge at his master as his body began to bulge, becoming larger every second. Y'gorl's roar shook the deepest abyss as his transformation completed, leaving him standing over nine feet tall when he was hunched over, with hulking limbs and huge tusks. His fangs had elongated to the length of a foot and a half, causing them to protrude from his mouth. His eyes swirled to a blood red color, as he let loose another roar, causing his master to begin laughing.

Y'gorl looked at his master with contempt as the ground slowly stopped rumbling, and took a menacing step toward him, only to be met by an invisible barrier. Y'gorl snarled and drew back his fist to strike at it, when he noticed a blood red and purple glow eminating from his chest, and as he peered down, he smiled. Slowly grasping the hilt of the blade from his chest, he tore it out, drew it over his head, and brought it down with all his newfound strength upon the magical barrier. Y'gorl's master drew it's sword and yelled in its twisted, echoing voice, "What manner of being bestowed that upon you, Y'gorl?"

Y'gorl glanced down at the blade that infernal human had driven into his chest, and was surprised by it. The appearance had changed from that of an ordinary blade, to that of a blade seeming to encompass Hell within it. The blade of the weapon had shot out three feet, giving it a six-foot reddish-black blade. The hilt had been replaced by a demon, it's bat-like wings spread, creating the crossguard. The arms of the demon were pointing up, holding a blood red ruby above it's head, seeming to glow with an unholy bloody light.

The Infernal Moonblade pierced the magical shield with ease, sending a red shockwave over it as the sword slowly absorbed the energy the shield required to sustain it, storing the energy in the ruby. The blood red light of the ruby spilled throughout the cavernous hall, revealing millions of piles of bones miles high, with creatures gnawing on them, scrabbling over the mounds. Y'gorl's master drew it's own blade as Y'gorl turned it's stare back toward it. Startled, the Kragouri held the blade higher, causing the light to spill over its master and onto its skeletal throne, and Y'gorl was sickened and amazed by what he saw.

The massive throne was constructed out of a monster that was on all fours, it's massive jaws opened as though in mid-roar, frozen for eternity. The head of the beast had two massive horns that curled around to the front of his head from the sides, and three that curled slightly up from his chin. Its ribcage had been reconstructed, having the ribs lowered, taking them and interweaving them to form a seat. It's pose bespoke of a lion, preparing to pounce, with its razor sharp claws dug in, the spines running the length of its back, its huge tail slightly bent, as though frozen while swaying. Y'gorl's eyes widened as he realized who the massive creature was.

"You, how did... THAT get here!" Y'gorl yelped as he swallowed hard, looking from the hideous monument, then back to his master. He found new respect within the being, and kneeled before him, laying his blade flat on his palms.

"I took his bones after he fell, and made him part of this place," The creature intoned as it spread its hands, indicating the whole of hell and all that was encompassed within. For the first time, Y'gorl got a good look at his master, although it did not reveal much. The creature's head was completely covered by its black hood, its red, glowing eyes was the only testament that the creature had a face. It wore twisted black and purple armor that glowed with an eerie light, over flowing black robes, and it seemed to have a glowing red shard sticking out of its chest. Y'gorl dismissed it as a trick of the light from his demonic blade. With black wings extended, its wingspan was huge, easily seven feet, and they pulsed with an eerie purple glow.

"Then... you must be…!" Y'gorl roared in fear as the creature eyed him, and slowly pulled back its hood, and the only sound that could be heard was a deep, fearful roar that shook the very foundation of Hell.


	5. A New Evil

The Rebirth Of Evil

Chapter 4

A New Evil

His eyes suddenly opened, bringing him back to reality from the terrible memory slashing through his brain. He quickly shut his eyes from the light that stung them, but began to gradually open them again. He glanced around to assess his surroundings, and determined that somehow he had ended up on a soft mattress that had been set on the floor in a small tent. The sounds of early morning activity floated to his ears through the thin cloth walls as he spied the tent flap to the outside tied shut. He sighed in satisfaction and began to stretch lazily when he felt something holding his right arm down and stopped.

He opened his eyes again and rolled his head to the right, only to find a beautiful woman's face just inches from his own. He was startled but didn't move, instead he gazed at her beautiful raven hair splayed across the pillow they shared, half covering her beautiful olive skin and perfectly shaped face. Her soft skin brushed against his cheek as he moved his right arm that was currently underneath her neck and began to stroke her hair, carefully placing it behind her ear to reveal the rest of her beautiful face. Feeling her silky hair glide between his fingers he moved his head closer and kissed her forehead, causing her to stir slightly.

He turned his gaze toward her face again, and was suddenly short of breath as a pair of beautiful almond eyes stared at him behind a few loose strands of her raven hair. As he gazed at those endless black pools he gently pulled her closer toward him.

"Hey," he gently whispered as she delicately smiled at him.

"Hi," she responded shyly, "I'm glad to see that you're still alive," she smiled before burying her face in his chest.

"Why are you here?" he asked, afraid of the answer as he saw her eyes dim and her face fall slightly. He shook his head to clear it then continued to stare at her, but the look in her eyes confirmed his suspicions as he closed his eyes as if to shut out the truth.

"I… it doesn't matter, just so long as your alright… then everything is ok…" she trailed off as she continued to stare into his eyes, the events of the previous day returning to her in a painful rush. He slowly pulled her back into his embrace as he gently placed his head on top of hers. After awhile he gently moved her away again and stared into her eyes again, a smile spreading across his face.

She smiled back at him as she moved her head toward his, when suddenly the tent flap flew open and a taller woman dressed in a light blue outfit strode in. The two figures lying together jumped apart as the woman's jaw dropped. She shook her head before looking at her younger brother.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you two," she said quickly, "I'm glad to see that you're awake Locke." A smile spread across her face as she saw her little brother sitting up, apparently recovering quite rapidly from yesterday's events.

"I need to talk to Locke as soon as you two are finished speaking," Marianna said as she turned and quickly strode out of the tent, shutting the flap behind her.

"Wait, uh...wait!" Locke cried as he glanced at the woman on the other side of the bed, and saw the shock in her eyes. Suddenly she started laughing as she glanced over at Locke.

"Well, you heard her," she said, still giggling, "Go talk to her."

"Are you sure?" He asked, his mind a little fuzzy as he glanced around the small tent. He glanced at her again and vaguely wondered why she looked familiar. He shook his head and dismissed it as coincidence.

"Of course, I'll talk to you when your done," she said as she came over and hugged him. He smiled as he looked into her eyes. He hugged her again before letting go and rolling over to the edge of the bed. His head throbbed as he rose and began to dress himself from a small pile of clothes that was next to his wash basin. The hot water steamed as he leaned over to grab his clothes, and he stopped when he noticed the strange figure staring back at him from the still water.

The individual that stared at him seemed so different than the boy he had thought he was. His face seemed thinner, his jaw more pronounced. Probably from the fact his cheeks had sunken in, losing some of its former plumpness. He had begun to grow some facial hair, though mostly just stubble. His eyes are what caused him to stop, for they now carried a slightly haunted look, having sunken in just enough to cause faint black rings to appear below them.

His eyes widened with shock when he realized he honestly had no clue who the figure staring back at him from the steaming water was. He glanced up at the woman still lying under the sheets and quietly muttered, "Who am I?"

He quickly threw his shirt on, jumping into his boots as he darted out, flinging the tent flap aside as the woman was yelling for him to "come back." He quickly glanced around looking for the other woman that had burst into his tent, because he wanted to know who she was. He spotted her shoving her way past a guard that just glared at her as he continued to hobble toward the healer's tent.

He took off as the strange woman came through the tent flap, quickly running around the same guard that he had run into and yelling something he didn't understand. He wasn't listening to her anyway, he was too intent on catching up to that strange woman that was dressed in elegant flowing blue clothing embroidered with silver glyphs, underneath a plain red leather jerkin.

"Wait! Uhh... augh!" Locke growled as a guard roughly shouldered his way past him, causing Locke to stumble slightly. He turned around and glared at the guard, then when he turned around again the woman was gone!

"Damnit!" he yelled as the turmoil of the milling crowd suddenly began crushing on his already fragile grasp on reality. He screamed aloud and he dropped to his knees as a loud ringing began to press in on his swirling brain. His vision began to swim as he glanced up and saw an old man grasping a cane and frantically reaching into his old, dust covered gray robes. He saw the ground rushing to meet his numbing body as the mass of feet began to close in on him. He choked for breath as he saw his body collide with the ground, and vaguely wondering why he didn't feel it as his vision swam with black and his connection with reality was violently severed.

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_The light hurt his eyes more than it should have as he slowly positioned his right arm behind his still form and propped himself up on his elbow. As he shaded his eyes from the blinding sun, he glanced around to find himself in a small tent. The smell of smoke hung heavy in the air as he blinked away his confusion. He glanced at the tent as though seeing it for the first time as he saw the broken furniture in the corner, with a huge hole burning into the top of the tent admitting the sun. He scrambled from his bed grabbing his clothes and turning back to stare at his bed and wondered what was missing as he quickly got dressed. He dismissed the feeling as a dream he had of something or someone being there and quickly spun to strap on his sword when he realized that it was gone._

"_Shit!" he screamed as he grabbed his dagger from its boot sheathe and blasted through the half burned tent flap into the sunlight. The whole tent collapsed as he flew through the air, being concealed as a huge cloud of dust went up as the collapsing tent hit the ground. The smell of acrid smoke hung heavy in the air as he glanced around, not seeing anything but dark shapes running by through the thick dust cloud. He ran forward and was bowled over by a charging creature with pale white skin covered by a small leather jerkin. It was carrying a bow with a quiver attached to it's back, and a dagger hidden in it's right boot._

"_Excuse me, but what's happening" he asked as the creature he now determined to be a she, instead of an it turned toward him and snarled. He backed away as she pulled her short sword from her hip sheath that he hadn't noticed before. Suddenly the woman screamed as a blade protruded from her chest, and a bright light erupted from her inside of her. The woman's corpse feel to the ground with a thud, lifeless and he saw a woman with raven black hair flying around her as she whipped around, cleaving another creature in half. Her emerald green eyes flashed as she spotted him staring at her, and a small smirk crossed her face._

_He glanced around him and spotted another woman, a sorceress by her long flowing robes and glowing hands casting an inferno spell at a group of Fallen that had ventured too close. Their charred bodies fell to the ground as she whipped around with her staff and struck a Goatman's feet out from underneath it. She quickly slammed the end of her staff onto the fallen creature and a shower of sparks flew as it screamed in agony. Suddenly the woman fell, an arrow protruding from her chest, and the beast that had slew her came into view._

_The giant creature snarled as it dropped it's huge black composite bow and drew a sword that he could only think of as pure evil. The blade was at least 6 feet long and was reddish-black. Their seemed to be a violent red light pouring forth from the blade as the beast swung it, cleaving an old man in gray dusty robes, desperately clutching to his old wooden staff completely in half. The beast turned its gaze upon him and he froze with fear as it took a menacing step forward. He heard a scream and turned to his left to find the woman he had spotted earlier being torn apart by a huge group of Fallen and Goatmen. He turned back and raised his dagger into a defensive posture but dropped it as the monstrous creature drove the giant demonic blade through his chest._

_He screamed as the giant creature let out a guttural laugh and lifted him off the ground using the sword as leverage. His screams intensified as he slowly slid down the blade, and the creature continued its blood-chilling laugh. He screamed as he grabbed the blade, trying to at least slow his descent as the horrible bat-like wings that composed the crossguard dug into the back of his hands, pinning them to his chest. He screamed as his vision began to fade to black, feeling his life flowing from his body, he gave up and slumped on the blade, causing the spiked crossguard to impale his hands further, but he no longer felt it as he slowly died._

_The creature glanced around at the slaughter that was almost complete, and it suddenly held up his blade, displaying its prize as it roared into the darkening sky as the sky began to rain._

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He awoke screaming and struggling against what he thought were undead zombie's restraining him. He turned away as he smelled warm breath against his face, imagining the putrid stench of decaying flesh. He lashed out, kicking and struggling, effectively freeing his right leg, which he immediately put to use, flailing it about as he felt it striking various other beings.

He rolled off the bed and immediately collapsed as the breath flew from his body. He felt those same hands lifting him off the wooden floor and set him once again on his makeshift medical cot. He opened his eyes to see his friends along with his sister and an old man all wearing worry openly on their faces closely peering at him. He coughed and tried to sit up, but was quickly forced down by a strong hand.

He opened his eyes again, expecting the hand to be his sisters, but was startled when an old wrinkled hand slowly lifted off his chest. _For being so frail looking, he sure is strong_, he thought as he settled back down onto the cot.

"Locke, how are you feeling?" The old man asked as he placed his hand over his chest and muttered a few words. Locke felt the spell run through him, it was a simple diagnostic spell but the feeling of magic coursing through his veins brought back memories of his last battle.

"Where are we?" He asked as he sat up in sudden confusion, remembering he had blacked out after preparing to throw some spell at…

"We are on a boat to Kurast, now lay down brother," Marianna said in a soothing voice as she put her hand on his forehead. "You gave us quite a scare back in Lut Gholein, especially after the battle…" her voice suddenly trailed off as she looked around her at the assembled crowd. They all seemed to share the same look of awe and worry as they all slowly turned away and walked out, leaving Marija and Locke alone.

"Thank you," Marija she quietly said as she leaned toward Locke and hugged him. His breath caught in his throat as he slowly realized that this was the same girl in the tent with him. She slowly let go as she turned around and followed Cain out and gently shut the door. As he heard the door close, he gently lay back down and reflected on all that he could remember happening.

Suddenly he remembered his dream and quickly rolled out of bed, getting dressed as he practically sprinted for the door and burst through it into the bright sunlight and seemingly endless sea. The boat rocked hard suddenly, and for the first time he noticed the cabin had been rocking all along.

He shook his head as he heard startled voices from the crew as he quickly ran up a flight of stairs to the upper deck and looked back at the smoking ruins of Lut Gholein. The memories came rushing back to him, all of them this time and he slowly sank to his knees and let out an anguished cry.

"Yes, the city is gone Locke, but you helped save most of the people that lived there," Marianna's calming voice drifted to him over the turmoil of thoughts in his head. He slowly lifted his head and stared at her as she came to kneel next to him.

"I saved them?" he asked, nearing the point of tears.

"Yes, and they were all so grateful for what you did," she said with a small smile as she brushed back the hair that had fallen over his face, "even though you were unconscious, most of the city came to thank all of us for what you did."

"The creature, it stole the blade you gave me… I'm sorry." He said as he buried his head in her shoulder and began to cry.

"Shh… it's alright." She said as her eyes welled up with tears too. She hated seeing her brother cry, but she understood why he was. That blade had cost one of her best friends his life. Kalaleq, her druid companion, had traveled with her and everyone else to the very depths of hell and back. Well, they had come back at least.

"I still remember how you got that blade for me, and what your companions had to do…" Locke trailed off as he sniffed, trying not to cry anymore.

She gently lifted his head and stared into his eyes, a look of kindness in her eyes. "I shall tell you the whole story, but later." He looked at her in mild shock, _There's more? _He thought.

"Come find me after supper little brother, I shall be in the officer's quarters talking with Meshif about our voyage." And with that, she got up and ruffled her little brother's hair affectionately before walking back the way she had come.

He slowly lifted himself off the deck and walked to the rail. He leaned on it as he reflected upon his friends, and the roads in life he had chosen to get to where he was now. As he stared at the burning city a thought gradually came to him.

"Marianna!" he shouted after his sister, "Who destroyed the city?" She turned around and looked at him from halfway across the deck, but even from that distance the pain on her face was evident.

She just stood there frozen, so Locke slowly walked to her. As he did, he noticed the crew had stopped working, and were all staring at his slow procession across the deck.

"These are things we must not speak of," she said as she grabbed his arm and quickly led him toward the officer's quarters, "especially with so many ears listening that should not be," she quietly whispered as she glared at the crew.

The crew began uneasily muttered between themselves as the officer quarter's door shut behind the pair.

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A/N

I know it took a long time for me to write and post this, but at least it's done! I'm gonna be writing a lot more lately, so tell everyone you know to read and review! Please review!

Thank you,

Fallen215

P.S. Special Thanks to my Proofreader! My own personal proofreading paperclip!


	6. Forgotten Memories

The Rebirth of Evil

Chapter 5

Forgotten Memories

The officer quarter's door shut loudly behind Locke as his sister slowly led him through the dimly lit wooden corridors, passing closed doors on both sides. The doors held the names of their respective occupants carved into the door, seen only by the strangled light of the lamps systematically placed along the corridor.

Marianna stopped at a door and looked up and down the dimly lit corridor before knocking in at the door before them. Locke looked back toward his right, back the way they had come and noticed dark figures in the shadows creeping towards them. He saw the glint of steel as the feeble light barely illumed the members of the crew slinking toward them in the shadows.

"Umm, Marianna…" Locke asked tentatively, "what are-"

"Shut up Locke. Cain! Open the door!" She shouted as she warily eyed the advancing crew.

Locke knelt down and grabbed his knife out of its boot sheathe as Marianna turned to face him. Marianna nodded at him and drew her short sword as she put her back against each other. _Ok, if Cain doesn't open this door soon, this is going to get messy,_ he thought, glancing towards his left at the still shut door.

Suddenly the door opened and the old black scholar eyed the situation with mild amusement.

"Come in, my friends," he chuckled as both Locke and Marianna slowly edged into the room, weapons still readied. Cain eyed the approaching crowd with skepticism, as they had stopped at the sound of Cain's recognition of these two as his friends.

"You may go back to your quarters, gentleman, these two are not here to harm me," he said to the assembled mass. Quietly they disappeared back into the shadows they had come from as Cain closed his door and latched it.

"They are a bit… overzealous in their protection of me," he said, still chuckling as he made his way across the cabin and sat in a large padded chair, "They care for my well being far beyond what their salary requires."

"So, you've paid those men to protect you?" Locke asked as he slowly walked across the cabin, finding himself a similar, yet smaller chair. Glancing to his right, he saw that his sister had done the same.

"Oh, no… not I. Meshif is concerned about me, with the destruction of Lut Gholien and the following madness," he said in a more somber tone.

Marianna suddenly spoke up, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had fallen after those words, "Cain, I would like to know what destroyed Lut Gholein—"

Instantly Locke chimed in, "Yeah, and what happened to me after I blacked out?" Marianna glared at him as he sunk back in his chair, having leapt to sit on the edge of it in his excitement.

"Marianna, that which you ask is something that I may not tell you," he said with an edge of fear in his voice.

"But, Cain… why—"

"Because," Cain quickly cut her off, "To even mutter the proof of its existence… it would cause evil omens to befall us all…" his voice trailed off as he stared at her.

"It destroyed the whole city… didn't it?" Locke muttered as Cain slowly shifted his head to stare at him.

"Yes, Locke… but I don't think it was just out to destroy the city," Cain murmured as he continued to stare at Locke. Marianna glanced over at her younger brother, only to see a look of horror on his eyes.

"Wait… you mean, it was after—"

"Yes," Cain cut her off, "It may have been after your little brother, Lachlan Lighthand."

"What?" Locke yelled as he shot up and moved away from the old black man in graying robes.

"It is a creature that must not be trifled with, and you would do well to remember this, Locke," he said calmly, leaning on his gnarled walking stick as he stood up. "I take it, Marianna, that you never told him," he said as he turned his scowl back toward her.

"I didn't think…" her voice trailed off as she turned around to look at her little brother. "I'm sorry Locke, I should have told you before all of this happened…"

"Sis? Cain? What's going on here?" He asked hysterically. He continued to step back from them as Marianna got up and slowly made her way across the room towards him. He glanced around and quickly grabbed the latch.

"Tell me!" He screamed, and Marianna stopped her advance.

"Locke," Cain said as all attention was focused upon him again, "You and Marianna are not truly related… you were adopted."

"No!" Locke yelled as tears sprang from his eyes as he opened the door and shot through it into the dark hallway.

"Locke!" Marianna screamed as she ran to catch him, only to be stopped by Cain's hand holding her shoulder.

"Let him go, he needs time to sort this out," he said with regret filling his voice. "Besides, we have many important matters to discuss."

Marianna's eyes were glazed with tears as she sat down opposite from Cain's chair, "Like what? I tried to deny the truth for so long… I tried so hard to treat him like a real brother…" she sobbed as Cain put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Marianna, you two grew into fine warriors, mainly by the guidance of your parents. You passed that onto Locke… he is more of a brother to you than most real siblings are to each other."

Marianna looked up at Cain and saw the truth of his words reflected in his eyes. "Okay," was all she said, as she wiped away her tears. Cain slowly walked across the cabin, gently shutting the door after looking out into the dark hallway.

"There are things about your brother that neither you, nor your parents truly knew," Cain said as he eased back into his plush, high backed chair. "I think it is about time that you learned the truth about what your brother is, or could very well be."

Marianna stared at the old man and simply nodded as she settled back into her own chair.

"The note," he began, "that was left with him was not written by his parents, but rather by something else entirely…"

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The screams of millions of tortured souls could be heard in the damned eternal River of Flame. Hundreds of Megademons could be seen furiously whipping and tearing apart the pitiful souls of the damned as they eternally burned. As far as the eye could see there spread a massive river of sulfur and magma, broken only by small and narrow walkways made of magically cooled and maintained obsidian.

Deep within this unholy region were an enormous flight of stairs, leading up into the rocky ceiling. Above this grand and unholy staircase was a dead land, swamped with demons and the undead. As the souls of the dead were gathered, whether wrongfully or banished in punishment, a ruined city sprang up in the heart of this murderous landscape, with a foreboding castle placed right over the entrance to the endless River of Flame. Only one spire still stood, because when eastern spire had collapsed it knocked down the eastern wall, and half of the southern. The collapse also successfully destroyed a third of the living space the castle was originally designed with.

The front of the castle held an ethereal drawbridge, that was currently being let down by two Minions of Destruction. Their master stepped onto the seemingly invisible bridge, its metal boots making a dull clanking sound. Quickly following the robed figure was an eight foot tall beast with massive fangs, and sword that could only be described as pure evil.

"Y'gorl, I will give you one last chance to stop those pathetic mortals," the robed figure's voice boomed as it stopped and turned around.

"Yes master," the massive creature replied, clenching the Infernal Moonblade in its fist, "I will not fail you… again."

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Locke leaned against the railing above the officer's quarters, where he had originally come earlier to discover the destroyed city they had left behind. The cool night breeze chilled him through his thin clothing as he continued to stare out across the black water.

A silent tear slid down his cheek as he thought of his sister… or the woman that he was brought up to believe was his sister. He thought of the times he remembered, growing up with her. All the things that she had taught him about life, manners, fighting, respect… _Lies! It's all lies!_ He screamed silently as he banged his fist on the banister. He set his head on the banister as he started crying.

Someone came up to him and put their arms around him as he silently continued to sob. He felt a kiss on his cheek and nearly jumped back in surprise, but quickly looked to see who it was. A beautiful pair of hazel eyes and a small smile with a beautifully shaped face greeted him.

"Marija…" he muttered before embracing her.

"Locke…" she said, hugging him back, "where is your sister?"

He immediately pulled away from her as sorrow and rage flew across his face. "I don't have a sister…"

"What?" Marija shyly questioned him. He turned to stare at her, the pain evident in his eyes.

"It was all a lie, Marija…" he began slowly, "I was just speaking with Cain and Marianna," he said the name with slight distaste, "When Cain told me that I had been…"

Marija slowly walked forward and placed her arms around him again. "What did he say?" she asked in a sad, almost pleading tone. Locke sighed aloud as he hugged her again.

"It doesn't matter… I don't belong to her," he said as his anger returned.

"Yes you do," a solemn voice called out, "you're more of a brother than anyone could ever hope for."

Marija turned to see Marianna walking up the steps by the banister as Locke slammed his fist against the banister again and began to walk off. Marianna opened her mouth to speak, but slowly shut it as she watched his receding form.

Suddenly, he turned around to face them, "Why did you lie to me, for all these years?" he yelled as he threw his hands above his head in despair.

"I didn't want to," she yelled back, "I wanted to tell you so bad… but mom made me promise to never tell you!"

"Yeah, well mom's dead Marianna…" Locke choked up at the painful memory, unable to speak.

Marianna sensed Locke's pain, even from across the deck, "She was your mother too…" she said solemnly.

"At least your mother died," Locke yelled back anyway, his anger slowly draining out of him, "I don't even have one…"

Marianna saw Locke slowly collapse onto the deck as he began to sob uncontrollably. "She loved you, Locke…" she said as she started walking towards him, "I love you too." Locke glanced up at her and quickly wiped away his tears.

"I want to be Lachlan Silverwind," he sobbed as she knelt down and put a consoling arm around his shoulders, "I don't want to be 'Lighthand'," he muttered sadly.

"You are Locke, as much as if you were birthed by mom herself," Marianna said, trying to calm her little brother, "this doesn't change who you are, we are still related."

"But, now I'm a completely different person…" his voice trailed off as he lowered his head.

"No, you not," Marianna said firmly, "you just… have some new information to integrate into who you already are," she finished, hopeful that he would not start crying again.

Locke lifted his head and looked at her with teary, pain filled eyes. "Thanks, sis…" he mumbled as he threw his arms around her.

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_The first thing he heard was the wind. It was a high pitched whistle that had woken him up, and it was basically the only thing here. As he picked himself up off the ground he glanced around to a familiar sight. The ruined city looked the same as last time, but there was one difference. He felt the wind. The black grains in the wind bit into him like a million ants crawling over his entire backside. He screamed aloud as the pain exceeded what he could stand, but the wind never stopped. He dropped to his knees and raised his fist to punch the ground when a bright light caught his attention. _

_He glanced at his stinging arm and saw his skin being peeled off, revealing an intricate glowing design glowing from the surface of his hand and arm. He held his arm up, fascinated as he watched the skin being torn away, revealing the whole design. It started about halfway up his forearm, and intricately twined its way up to his hand, which was mostly covered by it. He turned his hand to look at his palm and saw a symbol on it, but he could not decipher it. _

_He looked at his other arm, plain and normal looking, and back to his glowing arm. Slowly he held his other arm out, crying out as the wind continued to bite at his back and head. He saw the same design being slowly revealed as the skin was being eaten away by the horrible black sand that flew through this place. He slowly stood at the last of the design was revealed as he turned to face the wind. He heard a high pitched, shrilly cry cut through the air, muting even the perpetual scream of the wind for a few precious seconds. _

_He turned his head to glance at the black phantom he knew was careening towards him with its huge blade drawn. A whisper ran through the back of his mind as the wind beat down ceaselessly upon him, and he chose to listen to that whisper. He began chanting, and his arms began to glow brighter. He held them out in front of him and turned them to where they were vertical. He brought them together, as he turned to block out the phantasm speeding at him. He felt the air around him tense as he began chanting louder, moving his arms apart and holding them straight out at his sides, palms out. As he screamed the last few words of the incantation, the designs on his arms projected a half-foot from his skin. _

_Suddenly the wind stopped as the golden aura around him was completed. He started gathering massive amounts of energy from the surrounding area, drawing it even from the wicked black sand that seemed to noiselessly flow around him. He pointed his right palm at the creature and released all his pent up rage, and sorrow, mixing that with his newly obtained energy. He screamed aloud as he felt himself being torn apart…_

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Locke awoke with a scream of pure agony as he sat up on his cot. He glanced around to see where he was, but couldn't remember. _Wait, I went to bed_, he thought as he started to recognize the small cabin covered in shadow. He raised his hands to rub his face and stopped. Slowly pulling them away from his face, he opened his eyes to see a faint light glowing, trapped beneath his skin.


End file.
